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anna-scribbles · 10 months

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was about to read chap 2 of call it even but ao3 decided to self destruct anna how will i go on

that is so tragic that i will just have to post a whole sneak peek of ch 2 for you here!!!!

Adrien loved Ladybug.

He loved the smooth timbre of her voice and the firm set of her eyes, the way her mouth would dig its way deeper into a scowl the more she tried not to laugh at one of the rare jokes he managed to pry beneath her red-and-black spotted armor. He loved the way she spoke of justice with such reverence, of peace with such passion. Adrien loved the idea of Ladybug, at least—the thought that there could be a person who embodied so much of what he cherished, the grace and goodness and compassion of his childhood. He loved what Ladybug stood for. What she pretended to stand for.

Sometimes, Adrien thought that he could have loved Ladybug if he didn’t hate her so much.

There were times, though—like now, her red fist redder with his blood, cold disdain smeared across her face—when Adrien thought that he’d have hated her regardless, this nameless thief who masqueraded around his city as a hero. There were times when Adrien was certain he could never have ended up anywhere but at the other end of her fist, if only so that no one else would have to bear the brunt of her brutality.

“Get up,” his father’s voice hissed into his earpiece. “Don’t just lie there like an invalid. Take her miraculous!”

“Me-ouch,” Adrien wiped some of the blood off his face and grimaced, rising to his feet. “I guess your pledge to protect the citizens of Paris from danger doesn’t extend to animal cruelty.”

Fury lit up across her face, instant and red. Of all her buttons he’d learned to press, none ever worked quite as well as calling her out on the hero facade. And today, now that he was getting a good look at her, she was more agitated than usual, all her movements impatient and sharp.

“Don’t you talk about danger and cruelty,” Ladybug spat, setting her yo-yo spinning in a razor-sharp circle of light. “That misunderstood-tragic-kitty act is as fake as your stupid smile. We all know you could put an end to the danger anytime you felt like it.”

“Then you have misunderstood me, my lady,” He watched the time-worn nickname worm its way beneath her skin, upheaving a vulnerable, messy sort of frustration. Adrien lengthened his baton and lowered his stance. “This can’t end until I have your miraculous.”

Ladybug let out a yell and swung her yo-yo in a blinding arc at his torso. Adrien intercepted it mid-air with his baton, pulling the staff loose from the wire and scampering past her to the other end of the rooftop. He would do almost anything to avoid getting entangled in that thing; it was near indestructible and Ladybug wasn’t usually very keen on treating her captives kindly. His father, also, was not very keen on his cataclysm being used outside of their specific battle strategies. Adrien, in general, was not very keen on making either of these people any more angry at him than they usually were.

“Eat up, my angels!” M. Pigeon yelled up from the sky, riding atop a massive cloud of pigeons. “Taste the delicious cuisine you were always meant to have! No longer will the pigeons of Paris be resigned to breadcrumbs and cat food!”

“Hey!” Adrien yelled indignantly. “Nothing wrong with cat food!”

Ladybug made a sound that could almost be taken as a snort, but when he looked back, her expression had schooled itself back into righteous anger. She lifted an eyebrow, challenging him, but pulled herself into more of a defensive stance. She always liked to take everything in before she made a move.

“It’s okay to laugh, you know,” Adrien grinned wide and assumed a jovial stance, taking stock of the angle of her feet, the aim of her gaze. She was smarter and stronger than him; he’d always known that. But he was quicker with words and knew where to aim them. “It must be an incredible drain on your energy to keep pretending you don’t find me funny.”

“You sure think a lot of yourself for someone who just admitted to eating kibble,” Ladybug scoffed, eyes trailing the flock of birds passing over their heads.

“Don’t knock it until you try it, my lady,” Adrien said. “For a hero, you’re incredibly quick to judge.”

“For a villain, you sure do love stupid small talk.”

“Well,” Adrien mused, “Maybe there’s more to both of us than meets the eye.”

“Doubt it,” Ladybug said lightly, and she spun out her yo-yo, knocking Adrien’s feet out from under him and leaping to the roof of a neighboring building.

Just then, a fleet of pigeons swooped down from the sky and descended onto a nearby outdoor restaurant, littering the rooftop with feathers in their wake. Pulling himself up, Adrien watched with a measure of horrified wonder as the pigeons devoured all the food on the tables in a matter of seconds like a pack of feathered piranhas.

“Are they supposed to be, like, carnivores?” Adrien yelled, the image of a pigeon tearing through a sausage burned into his mind. Ladybug, predictably, didn’t answer.

He vaulted after her, trailing her from rooftop to rooftop as they both dodged the swarms of pigeons terrorizing tourists and stealing every bit of food in sight. Sometimes, the akumas remembered that they were on Adrien’s side and actually tried to help him take Ladybug’s miraculous. But just as often, it seemed, they were more interested in general destruction and chaos, causing as many problems for Adrien as they did for Ladybug. The pigeons, Adrien tended to think, were more of a personal handicap than anything.

“ACHOO!” Adrien sneezed, his still-broken nose sending an unexpected jolt of pain through his system. “Ow,” he groaned.

“Ha!” Ladybug spun around and kicked him in the chest, flinging him several meters back and over the edge of the rooftop. Slamming into the side of the building, Adrien dug his claws into the brick to slow his fall, pulling himself back up. When he finally made it over the ledge, Ladybug had her feet planted firmly and was throwing her yo-yo into the sky.

“Lucky charm!” she yelled.

In a shower of luminescent pink and white light, a polka-dotted Easy-Bake Oven landed primly in Ladybug’s hands. The way the hope sort of died on her face was almost enough to make Adrien burst into laughter, and it was really only years of media training that kept his expression schooled.

“Happy… ninth birthday?” Adrien offered, and the glare that Ladybug shot him honestly made the whole thing worth it.

“Shut up,” Ladybug snarled, and then she turned her gaze back to the battery-powered confectionery oven as if it might start speaking to her. “How the—”

“On your right!” Adrien yelled, and Ladybug glanced in his direction as a swarm of pigeons slammed into her from the left, knocking the lucky charm out of her hands. Adrien quickly scooped it up and vaulted to the next building.

“You menace!” Ladybug growled, swinging behind him in swift pursuit.

“Name-calling!” Adrien tutted over his shoulder. “Not very heroic of you, I have to say.”

“I’ll show you heroic,” Ladybug muttered, and then Adrien felt a sharp tug on his left ankle. He’d only just looked down to see her yo-yo line wrapped around his leg when she sent him flying backward through the air, the toy oven flung from his hands as he braced for impact.

Adrien slammed into the pavement, pain rocketing through his shoulder. His baton clattered down next to him, and he blinked the black away enough to see Ladybug standing up on the roof again, staring at her lucky charm like it was a math problem she was trying to solve.

“I, for one, am loving this game of kitty-in-the-middle we’ve got going,” Adrien called up at her. He extended his baton and vaulted back up to the roof where she stood, ignoring the splintering pain in his muscles. “My turn next?”

Ladybug groaned, shoving the oven under one arm and setting her yo-yo spinning with the other. She swung it out at him and he jumped, almost stumbling when he landed on his throbbing ankle. He could try using his cataclysm to disintegrate the roof and make her lose her balance, but he wasn’t supposed to activate it until she had three minutes or less left on her timer.

“Get it?” Adrien asked, swiping his baton at her legs. Ladybug jumped deftly away. “Because we’re throwing the lucky charm back and forth? Like, monkey-in-the—”

“I get it!” Ladybug snarled, wrapping her yo-yo line around a nearby balcony and tugging, hard. Adrien had only seconds to lift his baton up in a makeshift shield when the bricks all came clattering down on him, along with a few tables and chairs and plates of food.

Suddenly a swarm of pigeons separated from the huge flock in the sky and descended upon them, devouring the sandwiches and chips at alarming speeds. Adrien’s stomach panged with hunger—while the rest of him panged with pain—as he remembered that he hadn’t actually gotten to eat lunch.

“Hm,” Ladybug said decisively, like the feeding pigeons had imparted some sort of divine wisdom upon her. “Yeah, okay.”

She was gone before Adrien could dig himself out of the rubble, swinging away with her magic Easy-Bake in tow and leaving him to deal with her mess.

“What are you doing?” Father yelled into his ear. “Follow her! Don’t let her out of your sight!”

“Of course,” Adrien muttered, unearthing an arm from the mess of rubble and feathers. “Resident bug-catcher, on it.”

Loud-mouthed and brightly colored as she was, Ladybug could disappear when she wanted to. And, though he’d spent the better part of his teenage years committing her habits to memory, Adrien could swear that tracking her never got easier.

Sometimes, when she’d do this—try and shake him off while she figured out her lucky charm—Adrien would spend the whole five minutes looking for her, tearing through the city until a wave of light flooded the world and let him know that he’d lost without even putting up a fight. Those were the times he’d be punished the worst for losing. The punishments had only gotten worse as he’d gotten older; Adrien had a lot more to lose these days.

After the seventh or eighth building or alleyway Adrien had ducked into, he started to feel the familiar tug of dread in his gut, mud in his veins. There couldn’t be that much time left, now—he’d been stupid, and reckless, and now it would all have been for nothing. His father’s silence in his earpiece was deafening, ice-cold and heavy. He was doing it again. And especially now, especially today, he couldn’t—he swallowed down his panic.

On a whim, Adrien landed on the roof of a pavilion near the park, circled with concrete pillars and backed up to the brick wall of a building. He ducked his head in and bit down a gasp when he saw a flash of red inside. She was—she was here.

He waited, breath frozen in his lungs, but the attack didn’t come. Ladybug was murmuring to herself, fussing over what he presumed to be the lucky charm. Ladybug was here. And she hadn’t seen him yet.

“Cataclysm,” Adrien whispered, setting his palm alight with inky destruction. And then he charged.

In one swift motion, Adrien used his baton to knock both the yo-yo and the lucky charm from Ladybug’s hands, sending them clattering across the pavement as he slammed her body into the wall. She growled and pummeled her fists into his face and gut, sending stars of pain shooting through his vision.

Adrien extended his baton and smashed one end into the pavement at their feet and the other diagonally into a concrete pillar of the pavilion. He shoved the length of it as hard as he could acoss Ladybug’s torso, pinning her against the wall. She coughed and spluttered, ripping at the baton and hurling expletives his way.

It wouldn’t hold her for long, but maybe for long enough that he could—

Adrien lunged for the lucky charm—that stupid, polka-dotted Easy Bake oven—and scooped it up with his left hand, hovering his right palm in the air just centimeters above it.

“Careful,” Adrien warned, and Ladybug’s eyes widened.

“You evil, idiotic, worthless waste of breath—”

“Yes, fine.” Adrien waved her off. “I’m not interested in that. I don’t want to fight. I think we should talk.”

“What are you doing?” Father snarled in his ear, and Adrien winced. “End this and take her miraculous!”

Ladybug looked like she agreed; the glare she leveled at him sent ice down his spine.

“Talk,” Ladybug laughed humorlessly, fists still tight around the baton. “Right. You always want to talk.”

“I want to talk,” Adrien agreed, keeping his composure level despite the anxiety in his bloodstream and Father’s voice in his ear. He even threw in a smile for good measure. “Obviously we both know how this”—Adrien gestured to Ladybug and himself, and then to the greater generally-in-shambles city—“goes. And I imagine that it involves many more people than we’d both prefer.”

Ladybug looked at him with some intense combination of anger and bewilderment.

“Are you… trying to apologize right now?” Ladybug asked. “For being a terrorist? The thing you’re currently doing?”

“No,” Adrien said, taking a great deal of effort to keep the frustration out of his voice. “I’m not apologizing. I’m just recognizing that you seem to care about the safety of civilians, and so do I, and so I think we should be able to find some common ground and settle this in some way that doesn’t involve them.”

“The only reason they’re involved at all is because you keep attacking their city!” Ladybug shouted, her voice a lit flame. Her earrings beeped—two out of five. “What are you talking about?”

“Adrien,” Father growled dangerously in his ear, “stop this immediately.”

“Don’t play dumb, Ladybug. We both know you’re smarter than that,” Adrien pressed on. “There’s no one here to fool. If you give back what you stole, this can all end—”

“Adrien, stop!” Father yelled.

“You’re insane!” Ladybug shouted. “I never stole anything, and—and the very last person I’d ever trust to talk things through with is you.”

Adrien’s temper rose hot beneath his skin, his ears flat against his head. A rumbling began to shake the ground beneath their feet.

“And this is what you want instead?” Adrien shouted. “The whole city in danger? Us fighting like this, forever?

“Adrien!” Father seethed.

Something shifted in Ladybug’s gaze, her eyes set with an infuriating self-righteous zeal that dropped a rock in Adrien’s gut.

“I think forever is a gross overestimation,” she said. “In fact, I believe you’re already out of time.”

Ladybug smirked, and a high-pitched ding sounded in Adrien’s arms.

The Easy-Bake Oven exploded with popcorn all over the pavilion, and a torrent of pigeons descended on the microwaved feast, choking the air in beaks and feathers until cracks splintered through the pillars. Ladybug wrenched the baton from the pavement and jousted it into Adrien’s stomach, sending him gasping to the floor, but not before he kicked at her legs and took her down with him.

They tousled for a few seconds before a feather sauntered down through the air to brush right up against Adrien’s nose—he could swear his nose was like a magnet to the godforsaken things or something, seriously—and Adrien, with all his might, could not stop the earth-shattering, full-body sneeze that followed.

The sneeze—understandably—loosened his grip on Ladybug, who—also understandably—used the opportunity to pull her knee up to her chest and kick him in the stomach, sending him flying several meters into a pile of pigeons.

Adrien blinked, Ladybug’s red form hazy in his watery eyes. Why did the allergies have to happen, like, instantly? Why did it always have to be M. Pigeon?

“A ‘bless you’ would’ve been fine,” Adrien remarked, feeling around for his baton with his non-actively-cataclysming hand.

“Hmm. I’m not really in the mood to bless you, I think,” Ladybug said. Adrien blinked again, and she was closer than before, yo-yo spinning triumphantly at her side. “I’m thinking you could bless me instead.”

In a swift motion, she lassoed him by the waist and hurled him through the air, several seconds of freefall before he made contact with something warm and firm. He felt the moment his cataclysm was released and panicked for a second, thinking that he might have accidentally touched a person. But, no, when Adrien opened his eyes, he only found the ashy remnants of M. Ramier’s pigeon-feed bag in his palm. Despite himself, Adrien sighed with relief. Awful as she was, Ladybug was reliable. She’d never manipulated his cataclysm to hurt another person, only to deakumatize people. Though he knew Ladybug wasn’t above hurting innocents, she’d always seemed to care about her public image.

“Chat Noir!” M. Ramier screeched, now that all the black bubbles were gone. “What are you doing here?! Help! Ladybug!”

“Hey, I’m not gonna hurt you!” Adrien put his hands up, placating. M. Ramier’s eyes were still wide with fear. “Let’s get you down from here, okay?”

“You’re safe now, M. Ramier,” Ladybug landed firmly on the rooftop, polka-dotted Easy-Bake in tow. She snapped her yo-yo around the black butterfly and gave Adrien a pointed look. “He won’t hurt you anymore. Stray cats know when to scram.”

“I’m harmless as a declawed kitten,” Adrien told M. Ramier, pointedly ignoring Ladybug. “I wish you well.”

read the rest on ao3 (when it comes back up)

#call it even #asks #ch 3 tomorrow!!!!!#(if ao3 permits)#ty ao3 workers u are the strongest people on earth #ml #miraculous ladybug #mlb

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lilian-writes-sins · 5 months

Text

𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝑩𝒖𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝑻𝒐𝒘𝒏 Ch. 2

“𝐵𝑎𝑏𝑦’𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑓(𝑙)𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡.”

★ pairing: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir x Reader

★ p.o.v: 3ʳᵈ person

★ ch. 2 summary: The news that they were next in line to hold the Miraculous of the Ladybug and defeat Hawkmoth alongside Chat Noir would affect everyone differently. For [Y/N], it came in the form of ignoring the issue all together, if they didn’t think about it, it doesn’t exist, right? But after weeks of lying low and ignoring Tikki’s pleas to take on the mantle of the Ladybug, the teenager finally, after what feels like an eternity, weakens their resolve (and, maybe, definitely, fights their first Akuma).

★ tags: swearing; weird magic headcanons; sorta making fun of Master Fu’s methods of picking heroes; reader is in denial; terribly written fight scenes (i’m sorry); tried writing a panic attack, dont know if its good or not

★ word count: 5,188

MASTERLIST | previous chapter

⟡ ⁺ ₊ ⊹ ࣪ ━━ ⊱⋆ flashback ⋆⊰ ━━ ࣪ ⊹ ₊ ⁺ ⟡

“… Are you sure that is possible?”

“Yes, if I can harness the souls and memories of the past Ladybug Miraculous wielders, I can conjure up an image of the next holder. That means, no more trusting strangers blindly!”

“Hmm... well, alright, if you believe this will work, let's at least try.”

With that, Tikki took a deep breath, closed her eyes and began to hum. It was unlike anything Master Fu has ever heard — something ancient and not of this world. Wayzz, Fu’s kwami, himself has only heard his friend utter it once before — back when they were young and their powers weren’t contained — and to say it was catastrophic would be undermining it. But that was then, now they're a lot wiser, and their unlimited powers are under control — for the most part — so what could go wrong?

Tikki’s little hands glowed brighter and brighter until the energy was released with a flash. The sphere of light rose into the air, growing in size. Master Fu, Wayzz and Tikki all gazed in wonder at the face of the next Ladybug Miraculous wielder.

“Is- is that really them?” Fu asked, amazement evident in his voice.

“Yes,” the red kwami answered, eyes gleaming with conviction, “I’m certain it is.”

⟡ ⁺ ₊ ⊹ ࣪ ━━ ⊱⋆ flashback ⋆⊰ ━━ ࣪ ⊹ ₊ ⁺ ⟡

“What. The. Fuck.”

[Y/N]’s eyebrows in bewilderment as they gazed upon the red, bug-like creature in front of them. Tikki, as it called itself, stated that the teen was chosen to be whatever a ‘wielder of the Ladybug Miraculous’ is.

Their face scrunched up as they tried to process the information.

“… Okay… what?”

“Are you alright? You’re reacting much more calmly about this whole situation — especially compared to my previous holder,” Tikki asked, her high-pitched voice tinged with concern.

The teen snorted, blinking owlishly as they surveyed their surroundings. “Oh, yeah, I’m perfectly fine! It’s not like a flying, comically large insect just told me I was the fucking chosen one. Nothing weird about that, no,” they shot back with a sarcastic edge to their voice.

A brief moment of silence stretched through [Y/N]’s room. They let out a deep sigh, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over them.

“… I’m dreaming, right? This is all in my head, and- and you’re just a figment of my imagination, right?” they asked, their voice tinged with desperation.

“I’m afraid not, [Y/N]. This is all real,” said the thing, Tikki, who looked almost… apologetic.

“… Okay, well then, can you at least clear some things up for me?” they prompted, slightly curious but still skeptical.

“Of course! What would you like to know?” Tikki flew a bit closer to the teen’s face.

“Well, for starters, the fuck is a ‘Miraculous’?” they asked, brows furrowed.

Tikki released a deep sigh, bracing herself from this point onward: ‘Oh boy… this is going to be a long evening…’

[Y/N] shook their head in disbelief, trying to process what Tikki was saying. She seemed really eager to explain things, but the longer she babbled, the more the teen felt their thoughts disconnecting from their body. They didn’t hear what the flying bug was saying until she was quite literally in front of them, a worried expression on her face, “... [Y/N]?” she whispered, not wanting to scare them.

That seemed to bring them back, with the teen bringing a hand up, trying to put some distance between the two. [Y/N] wasn’t sure what to even think. They were just a teen, not some hero with superpowers.

“Look, this is nice, flattering even, but I really don’t think I’m the one for this job, sorry,” they finally uttered, turning away from Tikki. They’ve just escaped to Paris, and they didn’t want to get into any messes so soon.

Frustration couldn’t even begin to describe what the kwami was feeling, she tried getting more words in, but all of it fell on deaf ears as the teen got ready for the night. “Please, just listen to me, [Y/N] — you are meant for this, you are meant to be Ladybug — my vision showed you, not anyone else, please,” nothing she said would cause any reaction from them.

Though the conversation went nowhere, the kwami was even more determined to make the teen see reason, no matter how long it took. Hopefully, she wouldn’t cause an Akuma in the process.

Every day since then has been a massive headache, at least for [Y/N]. An entire week of being hounded by Tikki’s constant whining and begging was driving the teen up the wall. If she were completely honest, the kwami was surprised that they lasted so long, she could be quite persuasive when she wanted to be.

One day in particular, though ordinary in every other regard, all of that pleading made [Y/N] reach their breaking point. ‘Kwami of Creation, huh, yeah, right,’ has been a primary thought of theirs. Though, truth be told, the teen found themselves enjoying Tikki’s company, if only a little. Unless she was nagging them, like right now…

“Please. Please. Please. Please. Please,” the bug floated around their head, relentless in her attempts to coerce them into transforming. She came out every day when Astrid would leave for work, like clockwork.

And just like clockwork, [Y/N] refused again. Suddenly, Tikki was floating in front of their face, the quiet buzzing sound her wings emit growing louder. She then proceeded to use her secret weapon, the puppy-dog eyes, in a sort of desperate attempt to persuade the teen.

To their credit, the teen really tried resisting the blue, alien-like eyes being thrown at them, but some things are inevitable. A few seconds pass before they relent, throwing their head back against the couch and saying, “Ugh! Fine! Okay, okay, I’ll fucking do it.”

“Yay! I knew I could change your mind! Come on! Come on! Let’s go right now!” Before she could get carried away, the teen put their foot down because they couldn’t just transform right then and there, for the sake of staying covert.

Thankfully, Tikki regains some sense, “Hehe, sorry,” she smiles sheepishly.

Shivers ran down [Y/N]’s back, mind and heart racing at the thought of them running along the ornate roofs of Paris.

The day ran its course, and the human-kwami duo were the only ones home for the day, spending their time scrolling through YouTube and eating snacks. As the sun was setting, Astrid came home from a long day at work. She spared the teen a glance and a smile, before making her way to her bedroom down the hall.

When the pair heard snores coming from her room, they decided it was finally time. Tikki’s excitement was clearly visible on her face as she flew straight through the door to [Y/N]’s own bedroom. The teen followed her, closing the door silently behind them.

Taking a deep breath, the teen closed their eyes, not wanting to waste any more time than needed. “Okay, Tikki, spots on,” they whispered. A bright light surrounded them, it faded as soon as it came, leaving the teen covered in a skin-tight, almost uncomfortable, material. ‘Fuck,’ [Y/N] stealthily made their way to the bathroom, ‘I don’t have a mirror... Their heart felt like it was going to jump out of their throat any time soon. And then, they caught their reflection.

The teen almost didn’t recognize themselves in the reflection. Staring back at them was a person covered head-to-toe in a red and black armor-like suit. As they looked themselves over, [Y/N] felt a grin form on their covered face. The most striking detail that the teen noticed was on their face. It was their eyes. They resembled Tikki’s eyes — striking blue hues with dark blue sclerae.

Right beneath their eyes, the teen noticed a dark gray mask covering the bottom half of their face. A pair of goggles were hanging around their neck, the blue lenses connected by a thick black strap. The suit looks like it came from a sci-fi novel: a dark gray bodice, resembling a ladybug’s underbelly, was tight-fitting, with a red chest piece, shoulder pads, forearm braces and knee-length boots. All the red pieces have black spots on them.

They turned around to inspect their back, and saw a big, red, black-spotted lump that rested between their shoulder blades. ‘What is that supposed to be?’ confusion riddled their face. Suddenly, the lump opened up, and a set of large, bug-like, transparent wings unfurled from its confines. [Y/N] brought their gaze back up after they felt something twitch on top of their head. And there they noticed it — a pair of antennae sprouting out from their forehead. The teen reached up to touch one of the ends, feeling it twitch.

The teen smiled, striking a few poses and quietly admiring their reflection from different angles. Taking a closer look at all the details of their attire, [Y/N] notices something red attached to their waist. They took the object into their hands, quickly realizing it was a yo-yo, it also had five little spots on it. ‘Of course this is my weapon,’ the teen sighed, a bit disappointed.

[Y/N] turned to exit the bathroom, turning off the lights before opening the door very slowly. Before the hinges started squeaking, the masked teen slipped through the gap, quickly making their way across the hallway back to their bedroom. They went over to the window connected to the side of the balcony, opening it and stepping through, trying not to bump or knock over the plant in the corner.

The teen stood crouched on the ledge, looking down at the street below. They grabbed the goggles around their neck, putting them around their eyes. [Y/N] stood up, grabbing their yo-yo from their hip and swinging it back and forth, feeling the weight and movement of the seemingly indestructible string in their hand.

Time seemed to slow down as they took a deep breath. [Y/N] swung their red tool out, linking it to a chimney on the other side of the street, and tugged on it a few times to test it. ‘Well, no time like the present.’ With that thought, they jumped, soaring through the air.

After what felt like forever but, in reality, was only a few seconds, the masked teen crash-landed across the street from Astrid’s apartment with a loud thud and a shout.

“OW, FUCK!”

Immediately covering their mouth to quiet any cries, [Y/N] looked around to see if anyone had noticed them. Feeling safe, they swung their yo-yo again with a bit more confidence than before. Unfurling the suit’s transparent wings once more, the masked teen glided through the night sky, enjoying the wind hitting their face.

Not wanting to be spotted, [Y/N] made their way directly to the Eiffel Tower, climbing up its structure quickly with their newfound strength and agility. When they finally reached the top of the monument, they felt their breath get caught in their throat, stolen away by an incredible view of the vast city bathing under the full moon.

“Whoa...” the teen muttered, removing their goggles and resting them on their forehead — right below the long antennae — so they could see a clear view of the skyline with ease.

The moment of awe was cut short when [Y/N] heard a figure land across them. The teen quickly hid behind the tower, holding their breath and not looking back. They were ready to jump off and head back home when they heard another thud, followed by a sigh.

Out of curiosity, they peeked around the corner and spotted a black figure sitting on the edge. Fortunately, the figure seemed unaware of the alien-like blue eyes peering at it from the shadows. Recognizing the potential dangers of being caught, [Y/N] decided to turn around and go back home.

The sound of something soaring through the air caught the ears of the dark figure. It turned its head back, not finding a source for the noise. It let out a defeated sigh after not seeing anything, its shoulders dropping in sadness.

“I’m even starting to hear things in your absence, m’lady. Sigh, this tomcat misses you…”

[Y/N] couldn’t hear the desperate pleas of the figure, they were too preoccupied trying to find their way back home. When they stopped on a roof to gather their bearings, a group of people caught sight of them, taking out their phones and shouting in unison.

“OH. MY. GOD! LADYBUG?” the group shouted, taking multiple pictures.

‘Shit!’ The teen panicked and swung away as fast as they could, eventually making it back to the apartment — almost tripping over the balcony railing. Climbing through the open window, they de-transformed and collapsed on their bed, exhausted.

“So? Did you like it?” Tikki asked, eager to hear what [Y/N] was thinking.

The teen just smiled and said, “That was so cool! Though, I’m not too sure about the yo-yo. Anyway, come on, let’s get some rest.” Tikki buzzes with excitement, snuggling next to [Y/N]’s cheek on the pillow. The pair drift off into a peaceful slumber.

Another week passed before anything notable happened. [Y/N] spent their days bonding with their loving aunt, Astrid, who helped furnish and decorate the teen’s room to their liking. The relationship between them grew stronger, and the teen felt more comfortable and safe in her home, though some habits were difficult to break.

However, when the sun set and everyone was fast asleep, [Y/N] and Tikki would sit on the teen’s bed, having fun and growing closer. The kwami would explain various Miraculous-related topics, like the history of the Miraculous, her own powers, and the rules the teen had to follow.

Together, they enjoyed a sense of peace and security that was lacking in their daytime routine. [Y/N] even let Tikki have a strand of their hair, which the kwami claimed was for ‘secret purposes’ with a sneaky giggle.

Now it’s Thursday, a regular day in the middle of a regular week. And it was, at least until a deafening roar shook the ground the Parisians were walking on. [Y/N] was out running errands — they really enjoyed helping Astrid out whenever they could — when it happened.

The deafening roar made everyone begin to panic and fall to the ground. Only seconds after the bellowing stopped, the grounds trembled once more as heavy stomps took over. The city was in utter chaos. [Y/N] could hear children crying, scared out of their minds.

As the teen’s heart raced and adrenaline soared through their blood, they desperately tried to make sense of the situation. Suddenly, a massive shadow loomed over them on top of the buildings.

Some civilians, including [Y/N], looked up to see what the source of all this commotion was, while others panicked and ran for cover. Some hid in stores, some fled to their homes, and some huddled together in groups, too overtaken by fear to act.

Before they even noticed, the monster came into full view, revealing a stark white reptilian beast towering over everyone.

The teen looked around, looking for a hiding spot to get to, before they heard something. A few feet in front of them, a mother and daughter were hugging as they were about to be crushed under the massive foot of the reptile. [Y/N]’s body moved without a second thought — almost instinctively — running towards the pair as fast as they could. When they were close enough, the teen jumped for them, pushing the woman and her child out of the way.

The older woman looked back at the teen, holding her wailing child close to her. She mouthed a silent thank-you to them before running away. [Y/N] almost forgot where they were before they turned back to look at the clawed, scaly foot coming down on them this time.

They covered their head, preparing for the worst, but it never came. Instead, the giant monster yelled and moved its foot away from them. Peeking their eyes out from behind their forearms, the crouching teen noticed a black, leather-clad figure right in front of them. ‘This must be Chat Noir...’ [Y/N] thought as they brought their hands down.

Chat Noir looked back, looking at you with a concerned expression. His silver staff retracts back into its original size and is placed behind the cat-themed hero’s back. [Y/N] stared at him, even as he extended his hand out to them, before they took it and got up. The two gazed into each other’s eyes, both under a strange haze; the two teens felt a tightness in their chests. It went away quickly, and the leather-clad hero straightened his back and spoke.

“Are you alright?” Chat asked, voice brimming with concern, green slitted eyes fleeting over them, looking for any injuries.

“I- I’m fine. Just shaken up,” the teen’s trembly hands were proof of that.

“Well, do you think you can get back home on your own? I’m kind of preoccupied with a lizard infestation,” he said, pointing behind him, where more destruction could be seen.

Instead of answering verbally, [Y/N] nodded. That was all the hero needed, apparently, as he gave them a smile — it made the weird tightness in their chest come back — before he turned, grabbing his staff and extending it again, jumping away.

[Y/N] stood in place for a second before they felt something jabbing into their side. Glancing down, the teen noticed Tikki already looking up at them.

“C’mon! Let’s go hide!”

They scrambled to get somewhere hidden, finding an alleyway and crouching behind one of the dumpsters. Tikki flew out of [Y/N]’s bag.

“I- What the fuck was that thing?” The teen held their chest — their heart beating faster than normal — trying to control their breathing.

“[Y/N]? Are you sure you're okay?” The kwami flew closer to the teen’s face, touching their cheek with her small limb.

They slid down the brick wall, hand still clutching their chest, as their breath became shaky and ragged, as if they’d run a marathon. Their eyes were looking straight past Tikki, not really focused on anything.

Loud ringing could be heard, though it only seemed to bother [Y/N]; they suddenly brought both their hands to cover their ears harshly, tears welling in the corners of the distraught teen’s shut eyes. Quiet, strained whimpers kept escaping their lips.

Tikki thought they looked like a wounded baby deer — scared and vulnerable. She flew down, perched on the teen’s shoulder, and rested a hand on their neck — that was really all she could do.

The kwami continued to reassure [Y/N], and a little while later, they finally stopped shaking. The teen looked at their little red companion with a determined look as they stood up, rolling their shoulders back.

“Okay, let's do this.”

All Chat Noir could think of right now was not letting his lunch come back out the wrong side. He was being swung around by ginormous, scaly reptile paws and thrown through the air. You’d think that after half a year of working alone, he’d be more efficient at this whole thing. And you’d be right; today was just... not his day, to say the least.

The terrified screams and reassuring words from the Parisians below all mixed into a disorienting white noise that Chat couldn’t do anything about. As he was being lifted to the Draken’s face, rows upon rows of sharp, yellowy teeth could be seen. The feline hero shut his bright green eyes tight, silently preparing for his doom. ‘This really is it... I’m so sorry, m’Lady.’

“HEY, UGLY!” A voice cut through the air, loud enough to get the attention of everyone, “Let the cat-boy go!”

There, on the roof of a tall building — eye-level with the scaly, white beast — stood a figure, shadowed by the warm afternoon sun hitting its back.

Murmurs ran through the crowd like wildfire. The figure grabs something from its hip and spins it fast, a familiar pink glow appears from the whizzing of the object.

“Whoa, who is that?”

“Is that Ladybug?”

“HA! I told you she would come back!”

The figure paid no mind to the crowd, keeping their gaze on the giant in front of them — more specifically, the bright purple butterfly outside that suddenly appeared over its face. It seemed to make the large beast stop in its tracks, like it was under a spell. But there was no time to think about that; there were civilians and a stray cat in danger.

“Oj, scale-face! I’m talking to you!” The red figure took a running start and jumped off the roof, spreading large, transparent wings out from their back.

That seemed to bring the creature out of its trance-like state — the glowing outline had disappeared by now — letting out a deafening roar, black smoke pouring out of its unhinged mouth.

Now that the sun wasn't blocking their view, everyone could see someone akin to the iconic red and black-spotted heroine Paris has come to love and mourn the loss of. Though, the voice and mannerisms should’ve given them away sooner, this was definitely not Ladybug, at least not the Ladybug people know.

The spotted figure zipped straight for the overgrown lizard, effectively — if only a bit clumsily, as if this were their first time — dodging its flailing limbs. They flew straight towards its open mouth, quickly grabbing the black-leather-clad hero before he could become lizard food.

The two escaped narrowly, [Y/N] setting Chat Noir down on one of the flat roofed buildings, behind the roof access room, hiding them from the beast’s line of sight.

“Are you alright?” the teen asked, unknowingly repeating his first words to their civilian self.

Wherever his mind went, it came back to his body right at that moment. He glanced at the face of his savior, covered with a black face mask and goggles, hiding every part of their face apart from their eyebrows. The short hairs were furrowed, and no doubt a concerned expression decorated the face beneath the disguise.

“I- Yes… Who are you?” His gaze held so many emotions, like confusion but mostly distrust.

“Y’know, I never gave it much thought before, ask me again when we take Godzilla over there down, ‘kay?” Apparently, that wasn’t the answer he was expecting, [Y/N] could almost imagine a giant question mark floating on top of his head.

“So... you have a plan?” He was still staring, the fight clearly not on the forefront of his mind. His lack of answer perpetuated the awkward silence: “... Right, so, ahem, do you know where the Akumatized object is?”

He finally got over it, if only for the time being, “Yeah, there’s a gem lodged into the back of his neck, I tried getting it, but I got caught.”

“Well then, how about we try that again? C'mon, I’ll go and distract it while you destroy the thing!”

[Y/N] raised their goggles slightly over their eyes, winking at Chat Noir, allowing him to catch a glimpse of the alien-esque blue eyes that were hiding underneath the lenses. They prepared to take another running start, spreading their wings, before remembering something.

“OH! Before I forget, sorry, this is my first time doing this,” they took their yo-yo from its resting place on their hip and throwing it in the air, “Lucky Charm!”

The red polka-dotted sides spun around as it glowed before it came back down, leaving a small object where it was. The item dropped into the gloved hands; it was a red ice pick with a black dot pattern all over it, quite on brand with the ladybug theme. [Y/N] turned it around, looking it over closely, then grasped it tightly and returned to their previous position.

“Okay, are you ready? ‘Cause I’m not,” the teen chuckled, pulling their goggles back over their eyes, running and jumping off the roof, heading straight for the scaly monster.

The cat-eyed hero stood in place for a second, his mind still lagging behind. He shook his head, getting out of his stupor, and hardened his gaze, focusing on completing the mission. He would ask questions later.

He stood still for a while, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike the Draken. He kept his gaze mostly on the spotted hero, distracting the beast by zipping around with their large wings, evading its grasp. Maybe he was watching them because he was worried they would get caught and hurt, or maybe he was judging them because ‘Ladybug wouldn't have come up with such a primitive plan’.

By now, the Draken's back is turned away from Chat, letting him get a clear view of the icy blue gem, the same color as its eyes, embedded into the back of the beast's neck, surrounded by glistening white scales.

Taking the opportunity to strike, Chat Noir extended his staff, letting it carry him to land on the lizard’s back. He landed a bit below where the gem was, so he gripped onto whatever space he could and began to climb. However, the beast’s thrashing and flailing around made it quite hard to do. The green-eyed hero inched his way towards the glittering jewel, hanging on to a few looser scales to not fall off.

He raised his hand, preparing to strike, “Cataclysm!” A black, void-like mass bubbled around his right hand. Chat pressed his hand onto the gem, watching as it began to crack and turn a deathly gray.

Soon it stopped, and a glowing purple butterfly squeezed its way out of the cracks, trying to fly away. But before it could, Chat caught it in a strange, dark metal canister, not giving the insect a chance to escape.

As the butterfly no longer powered it, the large lizard became covered in a dark, almost black, purple, tar-like liquid. And then it disappeared, leaving a man, who looked to be about mid 20’s, to fall to his death.

Of course, seeing this, both heroes couldn’t let that happen, jumping into action to catch the young adult, before he could become one with the cracked concrete.

[Y/N] made it first, their wings gave them a stark advantage in situations like this, grabbing the man midair and gently landing him on the ground. The teen removed their goggles, letting them rest around their neck, and looked over the hunched person for any injuries. Thankfully, they found none, so they awkwardly patted his shoulder, making him look up.

He looked frazzled, as if his mind was a couple of minutes behind, trying to catch up to the rest of his body. He looked at the gloved hand on his shoulder and moved his gaze up to his savior’s face. The man was met with dark blues, glazed with concern.

He paid no mind to it, rushing into the hero’s arms and burying his head in the crook of their neck. It was a bit uncomfortable, both because their armor is very rigid and not soft at all and because they weren’t expecting it, obviously. Nevertheless, the teen hugged back, if only a bit stiffly.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” The man cried out, tightening his hold around them. He hiccuped, “I’m so sorry, for all of this. I- I just- my emotions got- got the best of me.”

He pulled away after a while, the teen now looking behind him to see Chat Noir staring them both down. Freezing under his gaze, the teen felt the third tightness in their chest return, all because of his eyes. But his gaze didn’t hold that same feeling — it was cold for some reason.

Not wanting to dwell on it, [Y/N] turned their unusual eyes back down at the man. Finally, they took a closer look at him; he was quite short — though that didn’t mean much, as the teen noticed they towered over most of the crowd, apart from Chat Noir, in this form — and gaunt, with heavy bags under his brown eyes. He was clearly dressed for work — unless business casual was his regular style — with a white collared shirt underneath a blue plaid sweater vest, paired with light brown slacks and matching loafers. His wavy brown hair was styled professionally — now a bit mussed from falling in the air.

“Hey, you’re okay. What’s your name?” The teen asked awkwardly, smiling more with their eyes, as their mask covered the bottom of their face.

“A- Arthur Gallo,” he spoke, still clearly in shock from his situation. [Y/N] patted his back lightly and reassured him, “Well, Arthur, whatever happened that caused this, it isn’t your fault, you were just pushed to your limit, and that's okay.”

The teen turned to fly away before stopping suddenly, “OH! Before I forget,” they grabbed the ice pick from its resting place on their hip — it was quite useless in their plan, but Tikki did say to have it on hand, just in case — throwing it up in the air, shouting, “Miraculous Ladybug!”

The spotted pick disappeared in a bright, pink flash of light, and thousands of ladybugs flew around the area, fixing and rebuilding all the destruction caused under the butterflies influence. The little insects surrounded the two heroes and Arthur before shooting up into the sky and dispersing out of sight.

Civilians around the area cheered loudly, and reporters popped up in front of the trio, asking questions upon questions and shoving cameras in their faces. [Y/N] ignored them, turning to face Chat Noir, whose gaze never left them. Suddenly, he spoke.

“Ladybug would’ve come up with a much better plan.”

The teen’s expression quickly fell in confusion; you didn’t even need to see the bottom half of their face to see it. Their brows furrowed, and they spoke cautiously, “Yeah, well, I’m not good with plans in general, and I’m not Ladybug.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” he huffed, turning around and extending his staff, jumping away, probably to detransform.

‘What the fuck is his problem,’ [Y/N] thought to themselves bitterly, their mood dampened by their ‘partner’s’ cold behavior. They turned back to Arthur, who was still standing next to them, looking awkwardly to the side.

“You can make it back home on your own, right? I kind of have to go,” [Y/N] said, pointing to their beeping earrings, only 3 of the 5 spots were left. He nodded, and the teen went to walk away before the man suddenly grabbed their hand, “WAIT!”

“Yes?”

“Please, what’s your name?”

“I- hmm,” [Y/N] thought for a second.

They knew they weren’t Ladybug, and they didn’t want to take on her name out of respect — and something in their head told them that if they did, a certain feline would dislike them even more. All they knew was that they were up for the task; to help Paris and the rest of the world from Hawkmoth, they knew that they had to have a strong, powerful name that would make people feel safe. [Y/N] took a breath, pushing their shoulders back with a more confident expression in their eyes.

“Red Beetle, my name is Red Beetle.”

Arthur let go of their hand — a grateful expression on his face — and thanked them. The newly named hero turned away from him, grabbed their yo-yo and swung away.

MASTERLIST | next chapter

★ author's note: I’ve written and rewritten this so many times, I feel like I’m losing my mind, anyways hope you enjoy! Also so sorry for the long wait, I really wanted to post this back in September, but school started and killed my motivation. I have chapter 3 as bulletpoints, but I’m not making any promises to post it any time soon :(

★ taglist: @leafanonsforest; @ok-boke; @they2luv1naia; @mytaiyakeylover;

#★.lilian writes #adrien agreste x reader #chat noir x reader #miraculous ladybug x reader #cat noir x reader #mlb x reader #gn!reader

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